Towards an aesthetic of diversity

Abstract

Collins’ chapter examines the question of aesthetics in artists’ work in the environment. The author hypothesizes that creative transformation has come unhinged from the impetus for primary authorship. Nature has come under full attack from the appetites of human culture and as a result the care for nature has become a cultural problem that must be addressed by the arts, sciences and the humanities. Working from a position of restoration ecology, the author makes a series of direct arguments for diversity as a standard aesthetic component, of social, environmental and economic systems. The text is framed within a specific history referencing scientists like E.O Wilson, and Gary Nabhan as well as environmental philosophers, landscape architects and other environmental practitioners. Also included in this text, are a series of full colour plates with descriptions presenting work done as principal investigator on “Nine Mile Run” and “3 Rivers 2nd Nature.”